Czechs go to the polls in national elections on October 20-21, with opinion polls tipping billionaire businessman Andrej Babis to emerge as the winner, despite being charged with fraud 11 days before the vote.

OTHER NEWS

Ksenia Sobchak, the Russian socialite, TV personality, opposition activist, and daughter of a former St. Petersburg mayor, said she will run in Russia’s presidential election in March, a challenge to President Vladimir Putin, who is widely expected to stand for reelection.

In the latest of several such warnings received by Russian students who support opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, a school director in the Far East city of Khabarovsk reportedly told a 15-year-old student that he would be investigated by security services, and called Navalny a tool in a U.S. plot against Russia.

French media, citing Pyotr Pavlensky’s lawyer, reports that the controversial Russian artist, who is awaiting trial on arson charges after setting fire to the Bank of France building in Paris after midnight on October 16, has launched a hunger strike to protest the lack of "public debate" before the judge. (Russian Service)

A bill adopted by Ukraine’s parliament on October 19 paves the way for national healthcare reform. Among other things, the law defines those medical services that are covered by the state, and those requiring patient contributions. (Ukrainian Service)

Ukraine’s border authorities have said almost 300,000 Ukrainians have traveled to EU countries in the four months since the bloc granted them visa-free travel. Despite some predictions, there is no reported rise in illegal immigration. (Ukrainian Service)

For the second time in less than six months, a recruit has been found hanged at an army base in Belarus, sparking a debate about "dedovshchina," the particularly brutal form of hazing inherited from the days of the Soviet Union, and calls for the resignation of the country's defense minister.

Recent reports that the Federal Security Service thwarted an attempt to assassinate charismatic Salafi preacher Khamzat Chumakov and arrested three of the four would-be perpetrators risk exacerbating the long-standing conflict in Ingushetia between the adherents of traditional Sufi Islam and Salafi Islam believers.

Ukraine’s national army is recruiting officers with experience in civil-military relations and trained civilian peacekeepers as part of a strategy aimed at reintegrating the eastern, separatist controlled territories of Luhansk and Donetsk. (over 56k views on Russian Service website)